VITAMIN K DEFICIENCY IN NEWBORNS

Key words: Vitamin K deficiency, Bleeding, Newborn babies

Classical haemorragic disease of the newborn (first week of life) can be effectively prevented by oral or parenteral vitamin K supplementation. Late haemorragic disease of the newborn (2-12 weeks of life) is a rare but severe disease, presenting as intracranial haemorrhage in 50-80% of cases. It occurs in exclusively breastfed infants with inadequate vitamin K prophylaxis, and in infants with malabsorption syndromes. Late haemorragic disease of the newborn can be effectively prevented by a single intramuscular dose at birth. An alternative regimen may be a daily oral vitamin K supplementation for 13 weeks. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a single intramuscular dose of vitamin K at birth.